Love and Capes: A Reporter's Tale
by NightyNightUK
Summary: Lois and Chloe are as diffrent as cousins can be however it is their diffrences that bind these reporters together as they learn what it means to love a superhero. Batman Begins, Superman Returns.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters AOL/Time-Warner does. One day I will own stock in that company enough to say that I have some ownership over DC but today is not that day.

A/N: I got the idea for this story from my sister. She liked the idea of writing a story based on the perspective of Lois Lane more than Clark Kent. I decided that a few changes needed to be made if I was going to pull off a story about Lois and Chloe. First off my sister hates Smallville which in my opinion should be a capital offense. I also decided that I wanted to tie in Batman Begins as it is the only descent live action appearance of the dark knight. Unlike my sister who loves the Cartoon Batman and wanted me to write this story as a blend with that shows News caster Summer Gleison instead of Chloe. I don't like to think of animated characters when reading a story it always makes it harder for me to picture the imagery. I also wanted to use a character that I felt closer to and could draw off of both television and comic book history for back plot. (yes comic book fans she is in there all you have to do is look back at older Detective Comics from before the eighties.) I would love any criticism you the reader might have so please feel free.

Mid. June, 2018 AD, Metropolis

Morning had yet to dawn on the city of Metropolis. Lois Lane woke to the smell of coffee brewing in the kitchen, her husband Clark must have already gotten up. He was often waking in the middle of the night to rush out the window as Superman and over the years she had become desensitized to the shift of weight on their mattress. _Finally,_ she thought, _this is the first time in the past two weeks that Clark can eat breakfast with me._ She threw on a robe and walked to the kitchen. She could see the black hair of Clark's head laying on the arm of the love seat in the living room. The TV was on broadcasting Cat Grant's show 'Good Morning Metropolis'. Lois rolled her eyes she had never gotten along with Cat when they worked together at the Daily Planet and she certainly didn't like watching her show. Pouring a cup of coffee in the Daily Planet mug that she had swiped from the office she made her way into the living room. Walking up to the love seat Clark raised his legs so that she could join him. Once she had sat down he laid his feet down in her lap and she patted his legs as they watched TV.

"_This is Cat Grant saying 'Good Morning Metropolis'. Today we will be talking with international business man Bruce Wayne. So Bruce what are your opinions on Metropolites fears that you are taking advantage of Lex Luthor's recent disgrace in the public eye to take control of the majority of Metropolis real estate."_ Cat was being her usual bossy self treating Bruce like he had committed grand treason.

Bruce seemed to not be bothered by her attitude. _"Well I wouldn't go so far as the majority but there have been numerous business Luthor owned that I had my eye on." _ The image of Bruce on the screen was just as intimidating as seeing him in person. Bruce stood at exactly six feet two inches his stare could make any man crumble. Any man that is except Clark Kent, Clark stood two inches taller than Wayne and had a stare that could literally burn a hole through stainless steel. _"Wayne Tech and Wayne Enterprises recently merged with Lex Corp. Industrial, As well as Luthor Communications. My plan is to streamline all of my businesses into one large company called Wayne Corporation. This should allow us to better manage all of our business ventures under one roof." _Bruce sat back and rested his index finger on his cheek.

"_Well you heard it here first folks now Bruce Wayne really is the most powerful man in the world." _She adjusted her dress shirt and read over the news cards in her hand. _"We will return after these commercials with an interview from this years hottest new pop-star Dilery Judd."_

Clark clicked off the television and sat up on the couch. "I wonder what he wants with Luthor Communications?" Clark said getting up and walking to the kitchen.

"Are you kidding." Lois said joining him in the kitchen. "Luthor Comm. owns the Gotham Gazette."

Clark turned to her and furrowed his brow. "Isn't that the paper that Chloe works for?"

"Precisely." Lois replied pouring what was left of her coffee into a travel mug and topped it off with the last of the pot.

Realization dawned on Clark and he smiled at the thought. "So how mad do you think she is going to be?"

"Smallville you must be kidding, she is going to go berserk." Lois said walking down the hall to get ready for work.

Twenty minutes later Lois walked into the foyer to see Clark ready and waiting. Some times he really ticked her off. He could get dressed and ready in less than ten seconds. Clark handed Lois her travel mug as they headed out the door.

Traffic in Metropolis was murder. It was four in the morning and cars were already bumper-to-bumper. Lois tapped the steering wheel of her mid-sized SUV. She hated the monotony of driving to work. she couldn't understand why Clark had wanted to move to the suburbs so badly. Lois felt like they no longer lived in Metropolis even if they just lived on the other side of the river. On their one year anniversary Clark had surprised her with the dead to their water front home. It had a beautiful front lawn and a gorgeous garden at the back of the house. The back of their lot met the river and had a deck that hung over the water. A river boat dock was located below the deck. The house was located up stream in the upper side of the city guaranteeing that they wouldn't see trash flowing past their home. On cool summer nights they would go down to the boat dock and watch as the city went to sleep. The only problem with their house was that the river front wasn't connected to the subway system.

By the time they reached the Daily Planet the entire building was already in a rush to put out the morning edition. The Planet published two editions every day, one was the normal sized morning edition that went out to newsstands at six a.m., and the second was a smaller evening edition that went out before the five o'clock rush hour. The irony was that where as normal people went to work in the morning and worried about getting their main projects done before dusk reporters spent most of their day working on smaller pieces for the evening edition and then scrambled in their off time to put together the bigger stories for the morning edition. Both Lois and Clark Worked as a team and focused on their main articles leaving the evening edition for small follow up stories that tied into whatever series they were focusing on at the moment.

Lois and Clark shared an office that was adjoined to the office of their Editor-and-Chief Perry White. For years before their marriage they worked at desks in the main newsroom. Lois liked the peace and quiet of a private office. The office also allowed Clark to make impromptu disappearances through the window of their private storage closet. Lois put her coat on the hook by her desk and was surprised when she saw that Clark had not followed her into the office. Lois was so used to Clark always being right behind her that she had failed to notice his absence. Walking out into the newsroom she surveyed the area and couldn't see her husband anywhere. Catching Jimmy Olsan as he walked "hey Jimmy have you seen Clark?" She asked the young photojournalist.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Lane I haven't seen him anywhere." He said shrugging his shoulders. "Maybe he went up stairs to see if he could catch a peek of our new owner."

"New owner" Lois was astonished she didn't know their publisher was selling. "Why hasn't the Chief said anything?"

"Apparently the new owner didn't want the news to backlog the morning edition." He said before walking over to the communal coffee pot.

Lois closed the door to her office and walked up to the executive floor. She had never had much need to come here before. She couldn't even remember the last time she had seen the publisher. Walking up to the publishers office she could hear hushed tones coming from the other side of the large mahogany doors. Leaning close to the door she tried to make out what was being said. Almost as soon as she put her ear to the door the voices stopped. Lois panicked, had they heard her coming? She had just decided to leave when the door was thrown open. Clark stood right inside the door and smiled at the sight of the ridicules position Lois had gotten into in front of the door. Behind him a hearty voice laughed uncontrollably. Lois had never heard a laugh quite like it before. Standing up she walked past Clark into the office.

To her surprise the laugh belonged to Bruce Wayne who was sitting behind the publishers desk.

"Careful Bruce or she'll think you laugh like that all the time." Clark said as his smile drew even deeper.

"We wouldn't want that would we." Bruce said a curt smile was on his face.

Lois could tell that Wayne seemed very comfortable around her husband. She had no idea that they were that close. She had only met him a few times, mostly in Smallville. Bruce had bought the chemical plant from Lex Luthor shortly after the death of Lex's father Lionel. He soon disappeared and no one heard of him for nearly seven years. Lois remembered getting phone calls from Chloe explaining interviews she had had with him. That was before she got onto this kick about the Batman. She seemed obsessed, everything she wrote involved the Gotham urban legend. Lois couldn't understand it but recently she had been getting news from Chloe that Bruce had been taking her out and introducing her to high society.

The man sitting before her didn't feel like the same cold shouldered man that she had heard about from her cousin. This man was open and warm.

"So you bought the Daily Planet as well." She said a smile creeping along her face. "Since it seems your on this purchasing kick how about buying our house so we don't have to worry about the mortgage."

"Lois don't be rude he is our boss after all." Clark said he seemed to have returned to his normal mild-mannered self.

"Oh don't worry Clark you guys wont be seeing much of me around here anyway." Bruce said. Lois saw his entire face change like it had shifted into the profile of someone entirely different. His eyes went hollow and his face was suddenly filled with wrinkles that didn't match his age. When he next spoke his voice was a dull murmur. "I'm not sure when I might be back in metropolis."

"I understand hope every thing goes well in Gotham once you return I have a feeling that a certain reporter might not be thrilled." Clark answered as he opened the door. "Come on Lois lets leave Bruce to his brooding."

It might have just been her imagination but Lois could have sworn that as she and Clark left the office Bruce winked at him.

The rest of the day went smoothly nothing major happened in the city which was news in and of itself. Clark actually stayed in his office all day chasing leads over the phone. Lois felt uneasy going home knowing what a serene day it had been. Lois drove home with Clark in the car of the first time in weeks. She was so unused to the idea that not a word passed between them. They shared a quiet meal and watched the stars loom over the city of Metropolis. Lois sat on their dock warmed by the presence of her Kryptonian husband and for one jealous moment she wished that things could stay like this forever.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this chapter but I wish I did.

A/N: ok decided that I couldn't wait to put up this chapter so I went ahead and did it. I decided to use the comics a little to help with some of the history of Krypton hope you enjoy. Stick around for the third chapter or you'll regret it. R&R

August, 2008 AD, Smallville, Kansas

A loud bell rang throughout the Kent home. The house was empty save for a precocious brunette. Lois lane sat up in her bed and stretched she had the house to her self every Sunday morning. Since the death of Jonathan Kent, Mrs. Kent had insisted on never missing a Sunday service at Smallville Methodist. Eventually Martha had stopped trying to get her to go with her and Clark. Once she was dressed Lois went downstairs and heated up the sausage and eggs Martha had left for her. Lois sat and ate her eggs in peace this was the life no rush of traffic no worrying about getting to work on time. She wished that she could stay in Smallville for the rest of her life. Looking at the calendar on the kitchen wall her hopes fell. The next week she was supposed to report to the Daily Planet to start her job as a beat reporter. The thought of the Daily Planet brought back all the heartache of the past year. Lois's cousin Chloe had been working for the Planet as an intern columnist. When Perry White the Papers new Editor announced there was an opening for a full time journalist everyone said Chloe was a shoe in. After months of prodding by her cousin Lois agreed to apply for the intern position that would be left once her cousin was promoted. A week later Perry sent her a topic to write a sample column. Lois found her self engrossed in the column so much the column she mailed back to Perry was more than a thousand words long. A week later she received word from Perry that she was for to good to be an intern thus nearly two months had passed and Chloe hadn't spoken to her once.

Lois had just finished cleaning of her plate when she heard the sound of Clark's truck coming up the drive. She ran outside to find Martha climbing out the cab and Clark sitting in the drivers seat expectantly. Martha walked up to her and smiled a single tear made a streak down her face. Lois wanted to ask her what was the matter but Clark blew the horn before she could say anything. Climbing into the passengers seat of the vehicle Clark backed out of the driveway without saying a word. They drove away from town until they reached a series of caves. Lois recognized where they were, these caves housed some sort of Kryptonian temple. Clark had shown her the caves before but she couldn't think of any reason for them to come here now.

Clark got out of the truck and headed toward the opening that lead to the temple. Lois followed him until they reached what she assumed was an alter. The structure was made of some sort of crystal Clark reached into his pocket and produced a long piece of crystal and fit it into a long hollow tube once he had a door appeared in the wall and a blinding light emitted from the room beyond. Clark held out his hand and said "trust me" Lois nodded and took his hand. Clark walked to the wall where the door was located and with a quick glance to Lois stepped into the light.

Lois found her self in what she could only assume was the arctic circle. In front of her spread across the landscape was a large crystalline structure. Turning around the Lois noticed that the area was covered in a dense fog that let in only light. Lois ran after Clark as he entered the large complex. She had never seen anything like it. The entire place looked like it had grown out of the pages of a sci-fi novel. Large crystals with perfectly level surfaces lined the floors. The distance between platforms made Lois feel like the place had been built for people who used an alternative mode of transportation then simply walking. Once she had finally climbed up to the level Clark was on she noticed he was standing in front of a series of crystals that resembled the alter in the caves. Clark moved crystals around on its surface and Lois realized that it was supposed to be some sort of control panel. She was about to ask him what all of this was when a large head appeared in front of them. He had silver hair and his eyes were full of wisdom. She was startled when the image spoke.

"_Hello Kal-El, I grieve for you my son. I wish beyond hope that your mother and I could have joined you on your quest to Earth. The council was too stubborn to listen to reason they prohibited the production of space craft to keep from starting mass riot. I only got away with building your ship due its size. I sent plans to my brother Argos I only pray that he was able to get your cousin Kara off planet before the core ruptured. I doubt he was successful he only received my designs weeks before the poisonous green rock that accumulated that the core of the planet reached the surface. People started dying by the thousands as soon as the mineral began growing out of the ground. We had become a people completely devoid of any creative thought. Anything that could not be studied scientifically was brandished as undesirable. Our blind eyes to nature and religion were our downfall. I fear that our ancient god Rao who resides in our red sun delivered the green rock to Krypton as punishment for our hypocritical actions. Maybe it was this reason that the council forbid anyone to leave the planet. Perhaps they felt that all of krypton deserved to pay the price for our idiocy. What ever they believed I spared you this fate for the sake of Rao himself. It is recorded that the House of El was founded by a man by the same name. El was a great warrior, he freed all those enslaved to the barbarians that ravaged our planet centuries ago when our planet was nothing but a barren wasteland. It was said that he had been found by a couple that owned a water farm. The wife had been struck barren and could not bare children. They found El in one of their fields and raised him to be there own. They name him El after the prosperity he gave the their hearts. El grew to be a strong young man and opposed the barbarians that wanted to take their farm. As punishment they killed El's father and took him as a slave. After days of travel they dumped El's body in an ancient shrine to Rao. Little did they know that Rao had birthed El to be the savior of his people. While El lay dying Rao sent a ray of light into the temple that gave El strength and new life. With this gift from his father and god El set out to avenge all who were enslaved. Once the slaves were free they made El their king and gave him a queen. Thus our family lineage was born. You Kal-El are the direct decedent of El himself. I pray Rao blesses you his last son as he did his first. May you rule on earth as El did on Krypton. Right the wrongs of man and give hope to those who have none." _

The floating head disappeared and Lois found her gaze shift to Clark. He had sunk to the floor and sobs escaped his mouth as he cried. Lois knelt down next to him and wiped the tears from his face.

"I found this massage waiting for me when I first came here." Clark said through his tears. "I was afraid of what it might say..."

Lois cupped his face with her hand. "Your father seemed like a good man."

Clark nodded his head and continued to cry. "I wasn't expecting this. I wanted to hate him so much." He said be for crying even harder. "But he risked everything to save me and did it out of the hope that I would make this world better than it is. He wanted this world to be spared of the same fate that befell Krypton." Clark stood up and wiped the remaining tears from his face. "That's why I'm have to leave Smallville."

"Leave, why do you have to leave?" Lois said standing up to face him. "What about your mom?"

"Regardless of what the message said I was going to leave anyway." Clark said, all of the sadness had left his appearance. "Lets go I need to get you back to Smallville."

Without another word Clark lifted her up in his arms and ran off at near supersonic speeds. They reached the Kent farm in less than five minutes. Clark left Lois on the porch and then turned around slowly.

"I know you wont understand this but I need you to promise to never talk about this to anyone but my mother." Clark started to walk down the steps to the drive. "I don't know how long I'll be gone but I will come back to you one day." With that he ran off before Lois could say good-bye.

"Damn you Clark " Lois wept. She curled up into a ball and cried until she had nothing left.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Don't own any of these characters but it would be cool if I did.

A/N: Here you go again. Wow three chapters in one day, I need a life. Well anyway hope you guys like it. The chapters might start getting longer but don't hold me to that. I like the way this is flowing so far. Well enjoy and R&R

June 2018 AD, Gotham, Massachusetts

Chloe Sullivan had worked for the Gotham Gazette for ten years in that time she had risen to be the most celebrated reporter in Gotham. If only the people of Gotham knew that she needed a masked vigilante to get the intel that made her column famous. She stood out on the roof of the Gazette building waiting for the caped crusader to show up. It had been nearly a week since he had contacted her. She had started to get worried that he had found another contact. That morning she received a package at her desk that contained a small metal device that was oval shaped with a large bat like symbol in the middle. The note that accompanied it was cryptic _'meet me on the roof if you want to climb down the rabbit hole to where the real criminals in Gotham are.'_ So here she was standing on the roof of a fifty storie building at midnight. _Not the smartest thing you've ever done,_ Chloe said to herself. She had almost given up when she heard his gravely voice.

"Hope I didn't keep you waiting Miss Sullivan." He said from the shadows.

"Not like you would care if had been." She answered curtly.

"True, I'm sure your wondering what the device is for." He said.

He wasn't wrong she kept fingering the odd shape in the pocket of her overcoat.

"You said you would take me deeper." She said not really answering his question. She like the acquired silences that followed her snide quips.

"The device is a tracking beacon it will allow me to pinpoint your location within a ten mile radius." He said ignoring her statement. "Its meant to fit into this."

A long dull shape flew out of the shadows and landed at her feet. It was some sort of belt. It was made up entirely of metal, and colored a strange brownish gold. The clasp was in the back and where the buckle for a normal belt should have been was a hole that looked exactly the same size as the device she had in her pocket.

"What the hell am I supposed to do with this?" She said in confusion more than frustration.

"You will go to Master Xi's dojo in the Narrows tomorrow at six p.m. no questions." He replied still not answering here question. "When you get home tonight you will find a package that contains the rest of the symbol I have given you. When your ready I'll call on you to implement that symbol."

"What?" Chloe was utterly confused. "What symbol? What are you talking about?" She shouted out in the darkness but the only response she received was silence.

A half hour later Chloe made it to the door of her apartment to find a large box sitting outside. It was very heavy and she had to drag it through the door. Once inside she placed it on her bed and walked over to check her answering machine. She had two messages. Pressing play she started to take off her shoes._ "BZZT... 7:34 p.m. BZZT... hey Chlo this is Jack at the Gazette. I just got word that Wayne bought the paper out from underneath the publisher. I got a bad feeling about this. Boyfriend or not I want you to get the scoop on this."_

"Damn him." Chloe screamed and throw her shoe across the room.

"_BZZT... 7:36 p.m. BZZT... Hey Chloe it's Bruce how about we go out mozzarella's tomorrow at six I have a surprise for you."_

"I bet you do you pompous ass." She said angrily.

She walked into her bed room and began opening the package sitting there. Throwing open the flaps she stared down at what looked like some sort of metal battle suit. She ran a finger along the large bat shape on the chest. Taking the suit out she saw that it was one long piece that covered everything from the neck down to the ankles. Also in the box was a wicked looking mask that looked just like Batman's. The box also contained a large black cape that had what looked like the fingers of a bat running throw it she grabbed at the edge were they seemed the congregate and she felt like she was looking at the diagram of a bats skeleton. The box had black tactical boots and gloves. The gloves had a strange surface on the palms that felt like rubber. She laid out what Batman had called a symbol on her bed taking a look at it from a few feet away she suddenly realized that the suit and all of its attachments look tailored to fit her exactly. _How on earth did he know my measurements like that._ She thought before putting it all away and getting ready for bed. _You can go to hell Bruce Wayne if you think you can pull a stunt that._ She thought laying down on her bed and going to sleep.

_The Next Day_

Sun was setting a Gotham as Chloe got off the rail car. It was ten minutes till six and she needed to make it three blocks. She rounded the corner and saw the neon sign that read 'Xi School'. Walking up to the dojo she opened the door and stepped inside. The interior of the dojo looked like she had taken a step into ancient China, the floor was covered and straw mats and a variety of weapons and gear lined the far wall. As she walked in an elder man descended from the stairs that lead to the upper floor. He looked like he was in his fifties and had shortly cut salt and pepper hair. He didn't say a word but simply gestured for her to follow him. He walked over to a bench on one side of the wall and pointed to a set of robes and then pointed to a standing screen that stood next to the wall. Assuming he wanted her to change she picked up the robe and went behind the screen. Less then a minute later she came out and set her cloths down on the bench s well as her purse. She then walked over to where Xi had moved to in the center of the large room. He bowed to her and she did the same.

"Good I am here to teach you discipline as well as technique so only speak to you unless you come dressed appropriately. You will learn a myriad of styles that our mutual benefactor has deemed necessary. You will not speak until I tell you to and if a single sound comes from your lips you shall be pressed even harder until you break. Do you understand?" Chloe was about the say yes but thought better of it and bowed instead. "Good we will start with the basics of ninjitsu or the art of not being seen. I have placed a bowl of water on the bench walk up to it and pick it up with out making a sound."

Chloe turned and made two steps toward the bowl when the mat under her feet creaked. Suddenly she found herself laying flat on her face. Standing up she made another step toward the bowl and the mat creaked again an once more she found herself laying on the mat. This continued for at least two hours until Xi released her. She made her way back to her apartment and threw her stuff down on the couch. Her entire body felt bruised and sore. She looked next to her bed on saw the box. _What have I gotten myself into._ She thought before passing out on her bed still wearing the karate robes.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this fanfic. (

A/N: hello everyone hope you like this chapter as much I loved writing it. I apologize for all of the grammatical errors in the third chapter and I will try very hard to make sure it doesn't happen again. One word of caution though. While the location of Metropolis is in the mid west in Smallville and the comics the movie Superman Returns has it in New England. But no worries R&R

June 2018 AD, Metropolis, Kansas.

The train station in downtown Metropolis was crowed and loud, too loud for Clark he had a hard time trying to suppress all of the sound. Clark made his way through the main terminal closely following Lois. They made their way to the Amtrak line and waited for the incoming train from New York. After a few minutes the long interstate train came to a stop and people began filing out of their compartments. Lois stood on the tips of her toes trying to look out over the crowd. After a few seconds Lois heard the a familiar laugh as a young eight year old boy came pushing out of the crowed.

"Mom!" He cried waving to Lois.

The young boy pulled his suit case along behind him as he ran up to them.

"Hey munchkin, how was your trip." Lois said leaning down and ruffling his hair.

"It was ok I guess. Dad didn't let me leave the lake house all summer." He said sounding depressed.

"Well I'm sure Richard had a reason for doing it. You now how sporadic your powers have been lately Jason." Lois said trying to counsel her son.

"Yeah but it would have been nice if he had at least let me se what the town looked like." Jason said not really sure he believed her.

"We'll how about we go get a milk shake before heading home." Clark said joining Lois in a squatting position in front of their son.

"All right thanks dad." Jason exclaimed throwing his arms around Clark.

As they turned to leave the station Lois grabbed the strap of her sons suit case and tugged on hit hard. As soon as she had Lois found herself kneeling on the floor in pain. Her arm had pulled right out of its socket.

"Clark help me." She whimpered clutching her shoulder with her other hand.

"What's wrong Lois?" He asked leaning down and scanning her arm with his x-ray vision. "This is going to hurt." He said before quickly grabbing her arm and popping it back into place.

"Argh, don't that again." She replied and looked at Jason who just shrugged his shoulders.

"I didn't realize I packed it that heavy, sorry mom." Jason said worried that his mom was mad at him.

"Here I'll take that Lois." Clark said lifting the suit case over his shoulder. "Come on sport lets get your mom home."

Ten minutes later the Kent family was seated comfortably in Lois's SUV. Lois sat behind the wheel of the vehicle watching her husband and son teasing each other. Clark and her made an odd pair at times but Clark and their son fit each other completely. Lois remembered the first time she saw Superman flying through Metropolis. She would have never thought that the same man could be such an amazing and down to earth father. Lois smiled and sipped on her milkshake as they made their way back to their home.

With Jason home the house didn't seem quite as empty, Lois walked with a spring in her step and everything looked brighter. She thought to her self that life couldn't get much better than this. Lois was standing in the kitchen staring into the refrigerator trying to decide what she would make for dinner. She had finally made the decision to order out Japanese when the phone rang. Picking up the receiver Lois motioned for her husband to take over.

"Hello, Kent residence." Lois said into the mouth piece.

"_Lois you wont believe what the self righteous basted has done."_ Said the voice of Lois's slightly demented Cousin.

"This about Bruce buying the Gazette." Lois replied

"_Wait, how did you know he bought the Gazette_." Chloe said in a confused tone.

"Well if you would stop chasing mythological bat people and watch the news once in awhile you would have figured it out." Lois said indignantly. There was a pause on the line and Lois new that Chloe was fuming. "You do remember that interview Bruce had in metropolis the other day don't you?"

"_No missed it, I was working on a story that morning."_ Chloe responded coldly.

"There you go cuz. So had anymore bat sightings lately." Lois wondered adding salt to the wound.

"_Actually there is some news on that front."_ Chloe replied a spark had ignited at the mention of the bat. _"Got a strange visit from him the other day."_

"Get out you actually talked to him." She said excitedly.

"_Well we have been meeting to share information for some time now."_ Chloe said in a hushed tone.

"Chlo how long have you been meeting with this guy?" Lois said dumbfounded. "Chloe are you ok? You sure you aren't in any trouble?"

"_Don't worry Lois I can take care of my self."_ Chloe said calmly. _"I'll call you later I have a class to go to."_

Chloe hung up the phone before Lois could argue.

"Clark what do you know about the Batman." Lois asked looking at her husband as he flew into the back door carrying take-out boxes in his hands.

"The Batman!" He exclaimed. "What do you mean?"

"I just got off the phone with Chloe and she's out some where following this bat guy around." She said hang the phone on the cradle.

"Ohh." Clark said with a hint of recognition. "So that's who he meant."

"He! You know who Batman is." Lois shouted.

"Well yeah, met him shortly after my return from Krypton." Clark said setting the take out down on the dinning room table. "He's a good man, has that city pretty much under control."

Lois didn't say anything for a minute while she tried to process everything when she had a revelation.

Turning to her husband she smiled and started to chuckle. "That's why you and Wayne seemed to be such good friends." She said as all the pieces started fitting into place. "And that's why this Batman has been coming to Chloe. He must have thought that he could trust her because of their past history."

"I'll agree with you so long as it's understood that you figured it out on you own." Clark said dividing the take-out onto plates.

"What I don't get is why he bought the Gazette without telling her." Lois said after calling Jason to dinner.

"I think he did it to make her hate him." Clark explained. "That way he could channel her hate into a weapon to make her better able to fight the terror and injustice in Gotham."

Lois stopped eating her rice for a second. "You're quoting him aren't you?"

Clark spooned broccoli on his plate before responding. "Maybe." He said trying to look in the other direction.

"Promise me you didn't know that he was going to do this to Chloe." She said setting down her fork.

Clark looked into her eyes and sighed. "I think he tried to give me all the right signs but I never picked up on it."

Not another word was spoken the rest of the meal. Clark wondered if Chloe could handle the task of working for Bruce. Lois worried for her cousin she wished she could call her and yell at her for being so naive. Doing that would acknowledge the fact that her husband was Superman and in the end reveal to her who Bruce really was. Sometimes she really hated being married to a super hero.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this fanfic.

A/N: Hello again, I hope you all like this chapter. All questions will be answered in this chapter as my initial interlude ends. After this chapter hang on to your bat britches.

August 2018 AD, Gotham, Massachusetts

Chloe Sullivan had made a big mistake. She had missed her train out of the narrows and out of a total lack of judgment she had decided not to wait. Chloe made her way down a dark street trying to make it to the bridge that connected the Narrows to the rest of Gotham. Walking down the street she became aware to two men gaining on her from behind. In panic she turned down an ally hoping to lose them. When the men turned down the ally with her she broke into a sprint. She ran as fast as she could until running right into a brick wall. Slumping down to the ground she waited for the men to tare her apart. Chloe closed her eyes and listened to the sound of their feet. The sound stopped and she could hear a fluttering sound as the men screamed. She felt and heard the sound of their bodies hitting the pavement. Chloe squeezed her eyes shut even harder until realizing that it must have been Batman that stopped the muggers. She opened up her eyes and gasped, in front of her wasn't Batman but a young man no older than eighteen. He wore a body suit much the same as the one she had only it was painted bright red. The boots and gloves were still black and cape had a golden underlining. What Chloe found most shocking was that he didn't wear a full head mask like Batman instead he wore a simple mask that covered his eyes. Chloe stood up gave the young man an inquisitive look.

"Who are you supposed to be Bat Jr." Chloe said a chuckle rising in the back of her throat.

The boy laughed and crossed his arms across his chest. "The name is Robin."

"So he drafted you too huh." Chloe said dusting off the dirt from the grimy ally.

"We all have our proposes. Some of us strike at evil from the source some of us simply watch and record what we see. We are every where always connected forever on the hunt." His voice had become lower his eyes danced with the shadow of the dark ally.

"Hunt, what exactly are you hunting?" Chloe realized that she had made a very big mistake.

"Injustice Miss Sullivan, you hunt it too you simply haven't discovered the nature of the weapon." He said instantly blending into the shadow and disappearing.

Chloe sank back down to the pavement. What had she gotten her self into? How had Batman been able to train and implement any number of agents with out them being reported or spotted. Getting up Chloe made a mad dash for the bridge and ran all the way back to her apartment.

_The Next Day..._

Chloe woke up and headed into work hoping nothing Batman related would occur until she had a chance to drink several cups of coffee. She walked up to her cubical in the Gotham Gazette's news room and set her stuff down. When she returned form the coffee pot she found a package on her desk. There was no return address and no note. Chloe cut the tape and slowly lifted the flaps. Inside the box was a grid map of Gotham and a note that read; _injustice wears a mask of fear that petrifies all those that would oppose it. In order to fight injustice you must first know how to conquer fear. Bring the weapon to the warehouse district there you will be shown the true nature of fear._ Chloe picked up the map on it was a red mark directly in the middle of the warehouse district. Looking back into the box she found two metal devices that looked almost like guns. Also in the box were a dozen thin pieces of metal shaped into the form of bats. Chloe closed the box and hurried out of the office. She would have to send her articles into the Gazette by e-mail.

As dusk approached Chloe sat on her bed starring at the body suit once more. She had spread it out assembling all of the pieces. How on earth was she supposed to get over to the warehouse district wearing this get-up. She also couldn't figure out how she was supposed to wear it. The suit looked skin tight, compromising she put on a sports bra and a pair of tight exercise shorts. She crawled into the back of the suit and pulled it up slipping her arms into sleeves. The sleeves came down to her elbows and the legs came down to her knees. The suit wasn't really that uncomfortable. In fact the armor conformed completely to her body allowing her complete movement. The armor was thin and she imagined that she could wear this under her work cloths with out a problem. She picked up the gloves and pulled them on. The material stretched up to her underarm covering the armor. Once they were both on she fitted on the spiked gauntlets and rubber hand coverings. The boots were much the same a piece of material covered up her legs and hips. Once these were on she pulled on the flexible boots. She slung the belt around her waist and clasped it into place. Pulling the tracking device out of her purse she popped it into its place on the belt. Tucking her hair back she put on the mask, this was the only uncomfortable piece on the outfit. Her hearing was slightly impaired buy the hard plastic and her hair bunched up in the back. Sliding the edges of the mask into the armor she swung the cape around her shoulders and clasped them into place. She noticed that the bony protrusions in the cape clustered right where her hands felt at her side. Grabbing hold of the edge with both hands she felt s surge for electricity pass through her hands. The cape stiffened into a shape that looked just like the wings of a bat. Chloe let go of the cape and it returned to its original shape.

Chloe retrieved the objects that she had been sent that morning. She couldn't figure out what to do with what she thought were guns but to her surprise the bat shaped pieces fit perfectly into the metal pouches on the belt. She noticed that the metal had a running tack all around it and she could move the pouches around from front to back. She picked up the gun devices and noticed first that they weren't guns but some sort of high power grappling hook. Secondly she noticed that the grappling launchers had clasps on them that matched the tracking on the belt. Snapping both of them on the back of the belt she walked over to her window.

She stood out on her balcony looking out at the city. She stuffed the grid map into one of her belt pouches and gripped the edges of her cape. She had been cliff diving back in college with Bruce but that had been years ago. Taking a quick breath she bit back her lower lip and jumped off the balcony.

Wind rushed past her as she fell fast. Lifting her arms air filled the cape and she stopped suddenly the air had picked her up and now she just had to make it to the roof of the next building without killing herself. Landing she let go of the cape and threw up her lunch. Once she had calmed her self down she made her way across the various roof tops between herself and the ware house district. Luckily for her most of the building where close together. The warehouse district was fenced off from the rest of the city which meant that Chloe was going to have to glide to the next building. Bracing herself she ran for the edge and jumped flinging all of her weight forward as the cape took shape. She zoom through the air and landed on the roof of the first warehouse inside the fence. She hadn't been afraid that time the terror didn't exist because she had no perception other than the speed and the warehouse. Finding a new resolve she made her way across the numerous warehouses. She stalked across the roof tops keeping out of sight from the workers and guards milling about on the ground. It took her ten minutes to get to the point on her map.

Once she got to the location Batman had indicated she was disappointed to neither hear nor see him anywhere. She mad her way to the edge of the building and looked over the edge to see if he was on the ground. She realized her folly when a hard object hit her head and sent her tumbling over the edge of the building. She just managed to pull out her grapple when she hit the ground. The suit managed to absorb most of the impact but her legs and back felt like they were on fire. She got to her feet and looked up to look for the person who hit her.

"Don't bother Miss Sullivan there isn't anyone up there." Robin said stepping out of the shadows. "I'm here to congratulate you Miss Sullivan, you passed."

"Passed? But I only just got here." Chloe said questioningly.

"You don't understand the test was never here. The test was getting here." He replied folding his hands behind his back.

"But I fell." She said reproachfully

"Like he always says, 'why do we fall if not to pick ourselves up.'" The young man quoted dancing around on one foot.

"What did you say?" Chloe's eyes fogged over. Bruce said that all the time. "Who told you that."

Robin shrugged his shoulders and let a grapple line lose flying up into the air. Chloe quickly followed him once on the roof he ran off turning a corner and out of sight. Once Chloe had managed to pull herself onto the roof she ran after him. She had made another mistake. Around the bend someone had been waiting for her. As soon as she turned the corner a fist flew out and smacked her right across the face. She stumbled backward and nearly tripped before finding her footing. The figure that stepped out of the shadows wasn't Robin or Batman but a girl not much older than Robin.

"Who the hell are you?" Chloe questioned rubbing her jaw.

"The names Batgirl." She said defiantly.

"How many of you are there?" Chloe said annoyed at the girl's attitude. "There a Batwoman too?"

"Not yet." She stated winking at Chloe before indicating the next warehouse over. "He's waiting for you."

Chloe didn't get a chance to say anything before the girl vanished in the shadows. Sighing she turned toward the next warehouse. Sure enough there was Batman standing on the edge of the roof letting the wind rustle his cape. Chloe grabbed the edges of her cape and jumped over to the next roof. She walked up to Batman and looked out at the outline of Gotham.

"I want you to know that I had to do this." He said his gaze still fixed out into space.

"What do you mean?" Chloe said quizzically

"You never have to wear that costume again but I had to show you what my world is like before I could risk what I really want." He responded before turning and looking in her eyes. "I have a terrible secret. You have to promise to never tell anyone about this."

Chloe didn't understand what he meant. "I promise." She said not really thinking about what she was doing

Batman reached up and grabbed the ears of his mask. Holding tight he slowly pulled his mask off of his head.

Chloe gasped she couldn't find anything to say. "Bruce?" She said foolishly.

"Yes Chloe I'm the Batman. But this is only half of what I wanted to show you." He said a nervous quiver ran through his voice.

Chloe almost fainted she didn't think she could handle much more than this.

Bruce reached into one of his belt compartments and pulled out a small black felt pouch. "I want you to have this."

She took the pouch from his hand and turned it upside down in hers. An ancient diamond ring fell out. She was speechless. "Does.. Does this mean..."

Bruce smiled. "Will you marry me."

Chloe's heart swelled she hugged him as she cried. She had never been happy about anything as much as she was right then. She kissed him on the check and stared into his eyes. "Of course I'll marry you." She said standing back she looked at him and her smiled dropped. Making a step forward she slapped him hard across the face. "Don't every put me through hell like that ever again. I wanted to hate you so much Thomas Bruce Wayne. I did all this because I didn't see a way out. I was terrified of what you would do if I refused. Damn you Bruce, I have loved you more than anyone else in the world. So your damn right I'm never putting this thing on for the rest of my life. Gotham needs you as Batman but mark my words you better never let that come before me." Chloe scolded as she stared him down. "Now come here and kiss me."

She grabbed his cape and dug her lips into his. She looked back at the last few years of her life and wondered whatit had been like for him to have to go everyday acting like a completely different person just to keep his identity a secret. Being married to a super hero was going to suck but she wouldn't have it any other way.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own any character in this Fanfic.

A/N: Hope you guys are liking the story so far.

Late August 2007, Smallville, Kansas

The Talon had been the focal point of Smallville for several years. Long enough that the communal shock of anything new had passed and young and old alike came to the talon daily. Farms met in the morning and talked about the coming harvest and how here crops were fairing in the weather. Women came and gossiped about the new preacher and the woman sheriff. And teenagers congregated and drank fancy European espresso. And for a small group of young adults it was a home away from home. Clark Kent sat at the espresso bar and read the Kansas Post. In front of him was Lana Lang manning her customary position behind the bar. Lois Lane sat next to Clark and absently stirred her cappuccino. The only odd occurrence that morning had been the absence of Chloe Sullivan. Chloe though had been prone to lateness since birth. Lois tapped her spoon against the counter until finally getting up and threw on her sued coat in frustration.

"that's it I'm going to go look for her." Lois said grabbing her keys from the counter.

"Lois sit back down. I'm sure Chloe will be here any minute." Clark said calmly not even looking away from his paper.

"All right Smallville but if something happens to her it'll be your head." Lois said sitting back down forcefully.

"Hey Lane you gonna pay for the chair when it breaks." Lana said setting down her rag and staring at her. "Anyway have you heard about Pete, Clark?"

"No I haven't, last I heard he was going to law school to study politics, right." Clark said putting down his paper.

"He called me the other day and asked me if I would escort him to this political shindig his party is holding here in Smallville." Lana replied wiping of the espresso machine.

"Wow, why is he doing it here you'd think he would go to Metropolis." Clark said somewhat dumbfounded at the idea.

"Apparently some rich guy from back east bought the old Luthor plant outside of town and wanted to use its reopening to help Pete's political career." Lana said rather matter-of-factly.

Clark nearly dropped his coffee. "Their reopening the plant!"

"Yeah what's the guys name, Bruce I think." Lana continued to clean her bar and this time it was Lois's turn to look dumbfounded.

"You mean Bruce Wayne, as in Wayne Enterprises." Lois said her with her mouth hung open.

"Yeah that's it, you know him?" Lana said returning to wipe off the counter again.

"Know him? Of course I do. Wayne is by far one of the top five richest men in the country if not the most influential. He could walk into the white house look at the president and say he didn't like they way something was being run and the president would have a research group looking into it within minutes. And on top of all that he's our age." Lois looked back and forth between the two of them and gave up when neither of them seemed to care.

Lois finished wiping off the bar and waved to one of her waitresses to take over before joining her two friends. "So anyway, Pete wanted me to invite Clark to come and figured that since the two of you are practically dating that you could escort him Lois." At Lois's expression she chuckled. "Oh don't worry I'm not jealous...much, and besides it will give us an excuse to go into Metropolis and spend ridiculous amounts of money on dresses that neither one of us will ever where again." She said with a smile on her face.

"We'll when you put it that way of course I'll go." Lois said taking Lana's arm and leading her out side while Clark remained at the bar stupefied.

_Earlier That Morning..._

Chloe sped down the interstate headed for Smallville. She had over slept that morning and had nearly forgotten about the weekly meetings at the Talon. She was pushing twenty over and needed to go twice that if she was going to make it in time. Ten miles out of Smallville Chloe came around a bend in the road and came face to face with a black Jaguar. Chloe slammed on her breaks and skidded off the road. She came to a stop fifteen feet into a massive corn field. Chloe lifted her head from the now deployed air bag and pulled the latch to her seat belt. Nothing happened, she pulled it over and over again and still nothing happened. Chloe began to panic and passed out in exhaustion. Chloe woke in a start, a young man had ripped the door off her car and was calling out to her. A second later her hearing returned.

"Are you hurt?" He exclaimed, worry in his voice. "Your going into shock." He pulled up her sleeve and checked her pulse. "Stay with me. How many fingers am I holding up." He said holding hold one hand and extending all five digits.

"Ugh, what happened." She said ignoring his hand.

"You have a concussion. Here we need to get you out of here." He said reaching into the cab and ripping the seat belt from the floor. He place a hand under her head and one under her legs and gently pulled her out of the car. Carrying her to the road he placed her down on the ground and put his coat under her head.

Chloe felt dizzy and several minutes passed before she felt well enough to get up. Felling her forehead she found a patch of dried blood. Her head throbbed and her whole body ached. The man hoe had pulled her out of her car was bent inside the hood of the classic Jaguar. Steam was billowing out all around him.

"So what happened to your car." Chloe asked, normally she would have been furious but the man had pulled her out of the car and made sure that she was ok.

He stepped back from the car and Chloe's heart fluttered, he stood over six foot with perfect hair and the perfect lean yet muscular build. He walked over brushing an errant lock of hair from his face. Chloe looked him over from head to foot and realized that he was wearing all Armani everything from his silk shirt to his well polished shoes. She clutched the coat that had been laid under her head and chanced a glance at the tag. She almost screamed, the coat too was Armani and from the look of it was worth more than every piece of clothing she owned. The man stuck out one hand while the other held a socket wrench.

"Hi my name is Bruce Wayne, what's yours?" He said with a wild grin on his face.

"Um... Bruce Wayne, wow." She said completely dumbfounded.

"No you see my name is Bruce Wayne I wanted to know what your name is." He replied his wicked eyes mimicking the jovial expression on his face.

"Oh sorry, my name is Chloe Sullivan." She said as her head started to clear. She began to think like a reporter again and immediately thought of a million questions to ask him. "What are you doing in the middle of Kansas."

"Ah yes, I'm vacationing hear before heading back to College. I just bought the Luthor Castle a few miles from here." He said nonchalantly. He seemed to be much more interested with something on her face. "You have gorgeous eyes." He said before heading back to his car. "Your that columnist at the Daily Planet right. The one obsessed with mid western folk lore."

"I wouldn't say I'm obsessed." She said defiantly.

"Of course, I apologize. No insult was intended." He closed the trunk and went to try and start the vehicle. "I have to admit that I am something of a novice investigator of American archetypes myself."

"Really, just a hobby I'm sure." She said she had met rich men like him before they liked thinking that they were just as intelligent as they people they associated with.

"Ah don't start over analyzing me. I'll have you know that I am majoring in both psychology as well as superstition and religion." He said finally getting the car to start he got out and walked back over to Chloe. "I would feel much better if I had my doctor take a look at your head." He said pointing to the dried blood on her forehead.

"No I couldn't possibly impose on you like that." She said blushing.

"I insist, after all if it wasn't for me you wouldn't have smashed up your car." He said his charming smile cutting right threw her.

Why was she getting so caught up in this man? He was just another rich boy after all, wasn't he?

"Sure I suppose I should have this looked at." She said. Bruce opened up the passenger side door and waited for her to sit down. She could just see Lois's expression when they realized she wasn't going to be there. Oh well there were worse things than making Lois Lane mad, not a whole lot but there were some things.

It took them about ten minutes to reach what used to be the home of Lex Luthor. As the car pulled up to the castle Chloe had a dreadful feeling that Lionel Luthor somehow haunted the grounds. Bruce got out of the car and opened her door offering her his arm as they walked up to the front doors. The castle had changed enormously. All of the stained glass was gone and numerous colorful suits of armor lined the walls. People walked up and down the halls unpacking boxes and hanging portraits and various pieces of Old English artwork on the walls. The castle felt much more welcoming. Chloe was taken back by the difference that Bruce had made on the fell of the mansion.

"What do you think of the place?" Bruce said making wide gestures toward the walls.

"I like it a lot more than when Lex owned it." She confessed.

"That's right you used to work for Lionel didn't you." Bruce said inspecting a portrait that hung in the center of the foyer. The placard under it read '_Thomas Wayne Sr.'_

"I was never his employee." Chloe said her reverence for him waning

"Don't start lying to me now. I did just buy Luther chemical. I know for a fact that you were on Lionel's payroll. In fact you received a hefty salary for working on something called the Kryptonite project. I was just going over the records of that project last night." Bruce finished meticulously aligning the portrait and motioned to the drawing room.

Chloe followed him into the room. Gone was Lex's pool table and glass furniture and in its place were several pieces of wooden furniture and a large screen television. The coffee table that sat in the middle of the room was covered in files and paper and siting in the middle was a large piece of meteor rock.

"I would get rid of that if I were you." She said pointing to the meteor rock.

"Why?" Bruce asked looking at the rock. "So you do know what this is."

"Yes, and I would strongly advise you to lock that up." She was frantic with fear. She needed to keep him from reading anymore into those files before he found out about Clark.

"It isn't dangerous is it?" He said looking at the green rock.

"Well let's just say that Lionel didn't get cancer because he smoked." She said trying to sound desperate. She knew that it would take a lot of exposure to get cancer from the meteor but he didn't have to know that.

"Ok I will." He said slipping a folder underneath the rock and carrying it over to the lead safe built into the wall. Once it was locked he walked back and sat down on the couch. "Well that catastrophe has been averted."

"Sorry about that I kind of freak when I see that stuff." She said trying to sound innocent.

"That's all right, I'm glad you warned me." He said sitting back on the sofa. "But now I know for sure that you worked for Luthor."

_Damn,_ Chloe thought. She had been so concerned about Clark that she hadn't even thought about what she was doing. "You've got me."

"So since your on my payroll anyway you can't refuse this." He said handing her a linen made envelope. She opened the envelope and pulled out a pure white piece of linen paper with gold lettering.

"This is an invitation to Pete Ross's big party tomorrow!" She clutched the invitation in her hand. She scanned the invitation a second time and her eyes dropped. "This is made out to you."

"I know, I am currently lacking a date." He said standing up from the sofa. "Would you allow me the pleasure with me?"

Chloe's heart began to flutter again. His deep eyes melted her resolve completely. "Of course."

"Excellent well I won't keep you any longer I believe your head is quite fine now." He placed a hand around her waist and lead her out the front door where a man wearing an off white Armani suit was standing next to a black Bentley.

"Hello madam please excuse Mr. Wayne's manners." He said with a British lilt in his voice. Chloe turned around and found that Bruce had disappeared.

"Hi my name is Chloe." She said descending the stairs.

"I know Miss Sullivan." he said opening the door to the back seat of the Bentley.

"He set me up didn't he. Everything from the car to the files he found in Lex's mansion it was all a set up to get me to be his date." Chloe said starting to put together the pieces.

"I would put nothing past that man Miss Sullivan." He said while Chloe climbed into the car.

"You don't look like an average chauffeur. What's your name?" Chloe said as he got behind the wheel.

"My name is Alfred Pennyworth, and no I am not a chauffeur. I used to be the head butler at the Wayne estate. However after the death of his parents I raised Mr. Wayne. You could say I adopted him only not legally. Now though I manage all of Bruce's personal ventures." He explained as they drove toward Metropolis. "Now Bruce will pick you up tomorrow however I would hazard to guess that you lack the appropriate attire."

"What are you poking at Alfred." Chloe said as a smile returned to her face.

"I believe there is a wonderful little store in Metropolis that caters to the slightly more well to-do." Alfred said smiling back at her through the rearview mirror.

"You're on Alfred." Chloe said, Bruce Wayne was not going to get away with setting her up like that without hr milking him for all he was worth.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: All characters are properties of Time-Warner.

A/N: I apologize for the time it took me to submit this chapter. I will try to get the next chapter up sooner than this one. Hope you enjoy. R&R

August 2018 AD, Smallville, Kansas

Laughter could be heard from the street leading up to the Kent farm. It was Sunday and like every other Sunday Lois and Clark had come out to spend the day with Martha. This was the first Sunday of the summer that Jason had been able to come visit with his grandmother. Martha milled about her kitchen making sure that she had everything going as planned for dinner. Lois had years ago stopped asking Martha if she could help, but in exchange she no longer fussed about going to church much to Jason's dismay she had even gotten them up early so they go make it to the Kent farm before heading out. Over the years she had come to appreciate the small town church more and more. Nearly a decade earlier she had gotten a taste of Kryptonian religious beliefs and she had to admit that if there was any indication of biblical truth it laid in the history of Krypton. Krypton had been sent a savior and like on earth half the planet didn't believe in him and the other half used his name to commit blood shed. The only upside Lois could find towards earths future was that they had been given a survivor to show them the folly of not heading their saviors warning. At first years ago Lois had thought that Krypton showed them all what a vengeful deity god was but she had spent a long time in thought and come to realize that Krypton had been given nearly fifty millennia to get things right and in the end the only true believers and died out replaced by a people obsessed with science. Yet though earth had been given hope only the Kents had the fortune to spend every day with Superman.

Lois and Clark sat in Martha's living room watching Jason put together a three dimensional puzzle. He was struggling even with super speed he had not yet developed Clark's ability to process data at the same rate. Martha walked into the room and smiled.

"Chloe just called she said she was going to try and make it here for dinner." She said setting down on the couch next to Jason.

"Really, Gotham is pretty far from here." Lois asked wondering what her cousin was up too. "You haven't heard anything from Bruce have you Clark?"

"No not in the last few days but I would imagine that Chloe just wanted to get away from the horrid city." Clark said helping Jason adjust the piece he was holding.

Lois giggled silently which she knew Clark could still hear. She also knew that as soon as Jason an opened the puzzle Martha had bought, Clark had mentally put it together in his head and knew where every piece was supposed to fit. He sat back holding his tongue to keep from reveling where the next piece Jason picked up went. It continued like this for several hours as Jason built and Lois and Martha shared embarrassing stories about Clark. They had just gotten up to sit at the table when the door bell rang. As soon as Martha had opened the door Chloe rushed in and hugged Lois.

"Hey cuz it's been awhile." She said squeezing her cousin again. And before Lois could say anything more Chloe shoved her left hand in Lois's face.

Lois was taken but for a second but then when she saw the size of the rock on her cousins finger all she could think to do was whistle. "Jeez cuz, Batman really knows how to pick out a diamond."

"Batman? How did you?" Chloe couldn't think straight enough to from a proper sentence.

"Oh the whole secret identity thing, Clark spilled the beans." Lois said still holding her Chloe's hand.

"Clark, but how would he know who Batman really is?" Chloe wondered

'Oh well that's right we never told you did we?" Lois said trying to think about what to say next. "Well you see cuz, Clark never lost his powers."

"What? Why would that have anything to do with..." Chloe stopped lost in thought and all she could muster to say was "Krypton."

"Yeah sorry about that cuz.." Lois started to say but Chloe had ripped her hand from Lois's and sat down hard next to Jason.

"How could you go ten years without telling me?" Chloe said looking at Lois as her eyes began watering.

"Hey don't blame me not even I found out until a few years ago." Lois said her attention jerked toward her husband after he had coughed very loud.

"That's not really true Lois you found out I was Superman about eight years ago. You know right before Jason was born. I fought Zod and Ursula after I had given up my powers so we could be together." Clark said meekly.

"Oh how did I forget about that?" Lois said the incident know clearly pictured in her head.

"Um I was afraid that someone else like Zod could put you in harms way so I gave you an electromagnetic shock to suppress your memories of that past week." Clark said not looking in Lois's direction.

"The kiss, you kissed me so that I wouldn't remember who you were." Lois said touching her lips she smiled and threw her arms around her husband. "God I love you Clark." She said much to Clarks surprise. "Just don't ever do that again." She said shaking a finger at him.

"He screwed with your mind and you practically thank him for it." Chloe said her mouth a gap.

"Of course, he gave up what he thought was his only chance to be with me to keep me safe." Lois said patting Clark's knee.

"Well I have since learned that she puts herself in treacherous situations enough that her knowing who I am isn't going to increase her chances of getting hurt by much." Clark said receiving a slap on the shoulder that Lois immediately regretted.

Lois rubbed her sore hand and winced at the pain. "One day I'm going to learn to think before I attempt things like that." Lois said still rubbing her hand. "And your wrong on that front remember what happened with Manchester Black." Lois said looking at Clark.

"Yes I do." Clark said, he could still fell the way his fists had sank into Black. "But you did go into a terrorist country and get your self shot."

"Yeah" Lois said feeling the bullet wound in her back.

"You guys are freaking me out." Chloe said absently stroking her engagement ring.

"Yeah well don't worry Bruce guards his secret very closely. You don't have anything to worry about." Clark said as a smile returned to his face.

"How about we change the subject." Martha said sitting her roast on the table.

"I talked to Pete this week" Clark said dishing out peas on his plate. "He and Lana just finalized there divorce."

"That's not surprising she spent her whole marriage fawning over you." Lois said taking a bite of Martha's roast. "This is wonderful Martha."

"Thank you Lois." Martha said taking the mashed potatoes from Chloe. "I'm surprised she married Peter Ross in the first place."

"Well we all fell a little head over heals the night of his party." Chloe said remembering her first date with Bruce. She had fallen in love with Bruce that night. Now that she looked back at that night so many things make perfect sense.

2007 AD, Smallville, Kansas.

Chloe had spent hours fussing over her hair and her outrageously expensive dress. She now sat in the back of Alfred's Bentley wondering if she had made the right choice. Bruce had been tied up with business in Gotham leaving Alfred to escort Chloe to the party. Nothing drive her crazy more than being stood up. But at least she had the dress, that had to count for something right? Alfred pulled up to Wayne chemicals and drove past all of the press and cameras. He got out and opened the door helping Chloe put of the back seat. Chloe had realized that this was a red carpet kind of event. After all it was just a small-town kid form Kansas's campaign party for a state that only farmers lived in. Chloe smiled and walked briskly up the carpet avoiding all of the reporters she met. No wonder her boss was so happy she was going, this would make a killer story "My Night With Bruce Wayne." She could almost see the rise in newspaper sales.

Once she had managed to make her way inside she ran over to the refreshment bar where Lois and Clark were standing.

"Hey I didn't know you guys were going to be here." She said hugging Clark. "Nice tux Mister Kent."

Thanks Chloe." Clark replied stuffing a piece of kalamari in his mouth.

"You do know that's squid don't you Clark." She said pointing to the piece of sea food he was shoving into his mouth.

"Of course, what you think cause I never spend time out side of Smallville that I don't know what kalamari is." He said puffing out his chest.

"Of course not Clark." She said turning to her cousin. "And look at you. Did you mortgage your house for that dress."

"No but I could say the same about you." Lois said pointing at Chloe's dress. "That looks like it cost a fortune."

"Yes well not my fortune thankfully." Chloe said smoothing out the dress. "This just happened to have been purchased with Bruce Wayne's credit card."

"Bruce Wayne! Your came here with Wayne." Lois said astonished.

"I was supposed to but his assistant came to pick me up instead." Chloe said scanning the crowed. "He just doesn't make much sense. You know I think he staged his car stalling to get me to pull over."

"From what I read I wouldn't be surprised." Clark said rubbing the edge of his sleeve.

"Will you give it up Clark it all came out." Lois said checking his sleeve.

"What happened?" Chloe asked.

"Oh Shelby licked his hand and got drool on his cuff." Lois explained smoothing out Clarks shoulders.

Chloe was about to ask what Lois ad used to get it out when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning around she came face to face with Bruce Wayne. He had a large grin on his face and a two glasses of Champaign in his hands.

"Hello Miss Sullivan, I apologize for my tardiness. I had other business to take care of. The appeals court in Gotham set the date for Chill's hearing and I needed to make sure they knew I would be there." Bruce said forcing his smile to grow.

"That's the man that killed your parents right?" Chloe asked already knowing the answer.

Bruce simply nodded and handed her one of the glasses. "Now this must be Clark Kent." Bruce said offering Clark his hand. "Mister Ross has told me quite a bit about you."

"Has he now." Clark said accepting his hand. "I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage then Wayne. Because I don't know anything about you."

"Yes well what's there to tell." Bruce said in a haphazard manner. "I apologize I'm not really one for enter acting like this socially." Bruce said draining his champagne.

"Yes well I'm sure no one here really minds. The people that normally come to these thing are more concerned about drinking other peoples booze and eating their food." Clark said indicating the people around them.

"I'll have to remember that." Bruce said as his demeanor seemed to change and became mellow. "Well it was wonderful meeting you Kent. Make that you make your way toward the stage during Pete's speech and I'll guide you through the plant personally." He said and then excused himself.

"Well I got to have my date for five whole minutes, yippee." Chloe said with a frown.

"Hey don't beet yourself up if it's any consolation I could tell he didn't want to be here at all." Clark said patting her shoulder. "Come on we'll make our way to the stage so we can catch Pete's attention."

They made their way to the stage just as a small band played a short piece to indicate Pete was coming down. The crowed parted as Pete Ross and Lana Lang made their way to the stage. Pete looked like he hadn't changed at all and Lana looked gorgeous in her black evening gown. They made their way up the stage and were greeted bye Bruce before Pete took the stage. Pete's speech was full of all the political dribble every other politician said. He even claimed that he might run for president. After Pete gave his speech Bruce thanked everyone for coming and introduced one of his executives that would be giving the main tour. Once Bruce and Pete were off stage they walked over to Clark and Lois.

"Hey man how are you." Pete asked Clark offering him his hand and then drawing Clark into a hug. "It's been a long time man."

"That it has." Clark said taking a sip of champagne. "I see the political thing is going pretty well."

Pete nodded his head. "Yeah everything seems to be going good."

"Hey how a bout we head on into the Plant so we can beat those vultures behind us." Bruce said indicating the people behind him.

Bruce lead them through the main doors and explained the purpose of the plant. He explained that American's wasted millions of gallons of chemicals everyday. He had come up with the idea that if we recycled all of the waist into its base compounds that we could eliminate water pollution. He had singed a contract with the government that would allow Wayne Chem. cleaning boats to patrol the rivers in all the major cities in the country as well as Wayne Chem. technicians at every public water treatment plant to collect chemicals that were being flushed out of peoples homes.. There would also be delivery trucks that would go around neighbor hoods all over the country and pay people to recycle their unused chemicals. As Wayne said, 'Eventually were going to get all of it weather you get paid for it or not'. He then led them into a large room that contained three gigantic tanks of green chemicals. They were standing over the vats on a steel catwalk. Clark caught a whiff of the fumes and nearly doubled over.

"Are you all right Clark?" Bruce asked helping Clark up. "The veins in your hand are turning green."

"Green!" Lois said startled. She grabbed Clark's arm and pulled up his sleeve. "Is there meteor rock in these vats?"

"You mean Kryptonite? Of course that's what makes the whole process work. Without its unique radioactive properties we couldn't safely separate the chemicals." Bruce said a confused look on his face.

"Clark is deathly allergic to Kryptonite." Lois said trying to hold him up. "One of the many down sides to living in Smallville."

"Yes of course lets get you out of here." Bruce propped Clark up and started to carry him out of the room. Clark grabbed hold of the railing as Bruce went to shout out to one of his engineer's to open the doors to the control room. Clark had just put all of his weight on the railing when it gave way. He tumbled over and fell head first into one of the vats.

His eyes were on fire and all he could feel was pain. Lois screamed, Bruce heard her and turned around just in time to see Clark sink into the vat. Bruce scrambled for the door and ordered his men to drain the vat into one of the reserves. When he had made it back the vat was at half its original volume but it was still nearly twelve foot deep. Bruce slid down one of the ladders and climbed up the side of the vat by the time he made it down into the vat it was completely empty. He turned Clark over onto his back and checked his pulse.

"He's breathing" he called up. He snapped his fingers beside both of Clark's ears and didn't get any response. "I'd say he's catatonic except I see rapid eye movent. He must have gone into shock." Bruce grabbed hold of Clark and hauled him up the ladder. "Man this guy must lift cows or something he weighs a tone." Once Bruce had made it to the top several of his technicians helped Clark down. "I'll have him taken to the infirmary in my mansion."

Chloe called after him . "No we'll take him to a hospital our selves."

"I'm afraid that's out of the question Miss Sullivan." Bruce said buttoning up his tux. "Have a nice evening folks." He said and left the room following his technicians

"Damn, damn, damn, damn." Chloe said through clenched teeth.

"What's wrong Chloe?" Lana wondered.

"Bruce knows about Lex's research into Kryptonite which means he knows about Lex's crash six years ago. He also knows that I was working For Lionel to uncover Clark's secret." Chloe said slamming her fist into the railing. "Come on we need to get to that mansion before he manages to do anything to Clark."

They all rushed from the building and pilled into Lois's car. Within minutes they pulled up to the old Luthor mansion. Lois opened her door without even turning off the engine. She ran up o the front door of the house and knocked hard on the door. In seconds Alfred Pennyworth had opened the door.

"Ah I was wondering when you would get here follow me." Alfred turned around and walked briskly down a long corridor.

Lois ran after him with Chloe, Pete and Lana hot on her heals. "So your just going to show us where Wayne is keeping our friend?"

"Trust me Mister Wayne means no ill will toward master Kent." Alfred said stepping up to a bare spot of wall. He pressed a hidden panel revealing a make shift infirmary. There inside was Clark laying on a hard steel table. Bruce stood off to one side check print outs form the wires attached to Clark.

Lois ran up to Clark and buried her face in is chest. When she lifted her head Bruce was standing next to her checking one of the attached wires. Rearing back she slapped him across the face tears streaming down her face.

"I probably deserved that but it couldn't be helped." Bruce put down the clip board in his hand . "If you had taken Clark to a hospital then they would have found out about who or rather what he really is."

"You could have said something." Pete demanded wrapping one arm around Lois's shoulders.

"No I couldn't. Not without revealing Clark's secret to my whole staff." Bruce said picking the clip board back up. "I'm afraid I have some bad news though. I ran him through an EKG machine when he first got here. And I'm afraid he doesn't have any powers anymore. His skin is still just as dense as it was. Krypton must have been a high grav planet. So he should still have a lot of the strength and speed he had before but none of the powers he required solar and electromagnetic energy for."

"How do you know so much about his powers?" Lana asked lifting her face from Pete's shoulder.

"I have spent a long time trying to piece all of this together. Clark is the reason I bought this place. I had an informant inside Lex Chem that was spying for me. He got me copies of the documents Lex had on Kryptonite. When I had my people look at it I started reading up on all of the strange occurrences in Smallville. Oddly enough our friend here was always involved. So I knew there had to be a connection so I started having Lex followed. Sure enough he was always trying to prove the same connection that I had seen. So when he killed his father and moved back to Metropolis I bought his mansion and his plant." Bruce stated turning of all of the machines. "But don't worry your secret is safe with me. I know how dangerous Kryptonite is now but that doesn't mean I'll stop using it. Eventually I'm going to see this country maybe even the hemisphere completely wiped clean of water pollution."

"So you really believe in that plant." Chloe said dumbfounded. "This wasn't just a ploy to trap Clark?"

"My plant was the reason I bought all of this. I saw Kryptonite as the perfect solution. And no I never wanted to trap Clark to do anything. I was however going to reveal to all of you that I knew about Clark. I was then going to offer him the job of running the plant for me. Surely I thought that he would have a much greater grasp of the meteor than I do."

Chloe's heart sank he had set up the last few days to meat his own goals but no of them had been malevolent or cruel. He was completely sincere and only wanted them to see his vision. Chloe's heart raced with anticipation perhaps life in Smallville would finally get better.

Lois sobbed audibly, she held onto Clark tight and refused to let go. "I love you." She said in a dull whisper.

"I love you too." Clark said struggling to sit up. His eyes were on the brink of tears.

"How about we let these two love birds have a minute alone." Bruce said leading them out of the room.

_The Next Day..._

Clark and Lois stood on the porch of the Kent farm. It was nearly dusk and they were waiting for Chloe to say good bye to Martha. When she came out side she eyed the two of them together.

"I like the glasses Clark" she said pointing to the black frames that rested on his noise.

"Yeah well a little thank you from the Kryptonite." He said stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah, Bruce told me you turned down his offer." Chloe said sitting down on the trunk of her Volkswagen that sat in front of the porch.

"I don't want to even think about Kryptonite for the rest of my life." Clark said rubbing Lois's back. "I told Emil Hamilton about Bruce's Plant so I'm not worried about it."

Chloe smiled and opened the door to her car. "Well I hope you guys do well I'll call when I get there, see ya." She said as she climbed into her car and backed out of the driveway.

Lois and Clark stood on the porch and gazed out at the first stars of the night. Lois stood there and wondered if her life could get any better than this.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: All characters are properties of Time-Warner.

A/N: Hello this chapter is a little shorter than the last one but I liked the way this ended and didn't want to spoil it by droning on any longer. R&R

985 AD, The Galactic Core, Oa

A lone piece of crystal hung dangling in space. Guardian Ra'thl sat in the watchtower examining space. He hated getting stuck on monitoring duty but the Guardians could not rely on their Lanterns to redirect the debris from Krypton. The first Lantern that found a surviving chunk of the planet had sent it into the phantom zone. Ra'thl sat back and drank his Thanagarian tea. He had just started to get comfortable when his proximity alarm went off. He shot up and ran a diagnostic, a large piece of Kryptonian crystal was floating toward the Core. Once his diagnostic had completed he uploaded to the crystals command functions. His findings were exactly what he and his fellow Guardians had feared. A survivor had tried to launch from the planet too late and had been caught up in Core's gravitational pull. Ra'thl activated the watchtowers tractor beam and pulled the escaped pod from the core. The ship seemed perfectly functional. He read off the ships course and destination, "earth!" Why in the name of the core would anyone want to go to a backwater planet like earth. Space sector two-eight-one-three, had yet to be fully charted. Ra'thl checked the ships trajectory again and saw that it was set to fly slow and would take nearly a millennia to reach earth. Ra'thl shrugged his shoulders. If Earth is where the Kryptonian wanted to go then far be it him to disregard their wishes. He reprogramed the command crystals and pushed the ship on it's way.

September 2018 AD, Smallville, Kansas

Lois made her way to the Kent farm. The afternoon was crisp, she needed to pick up Martha so they could go bridal shopping with Chloe in metropolis. Lois turned on the radio to see if the world had gone to hell on her day off. The disc jockey was going on about some meteorite that had just been discovered. Lois didn't pay much attention until the radio changed over to an emergency channel. _"This is an emergency broadcast from the united states meteorological agency. All of Kansas has been put on alert. A large meteor is head straight for the heart the states. Possible cities to be affected are; Huntsville, Smallville, and Greggersville. This large chunk of rock is traveling near the speed of light impact could cause earth quakes that reach as far as coast city."_ Lois flipped off the radio and floored the gas pedal.

Lois had just reached the edge of the farm when her car began to shake. She looked up out of her window and saw a massive piece of rock flying over head. Lois got out of her car and looked up at it, the rock seemed to be slowing down. _How could it do that_, she wondered. The rock split into three pieces and she suddenly understood. The piece in the middle looked like a piece of Clark's fortress in the arctic. The middle piece slowed even father and impacted in the middle of Martha's corn field. Dirt was throw every where and Lois had to duck out of the way to keep from getting buried alive.

Lois sprinted through the corn. Once she had reached the meteor it's origins were doubtless. Lois stepped up to the large mesh of crystal. There was a long flat surface that seemed translucent. Lois reached out her hand and touched it, as soon as she did it fogged up and began to breakdown. Inside the ship was a girl no older then fifteen. She had shoulder length blond hair and her eyes looked like deep pools of blue just like Clark's. Lois picked wrapped her in the blanket she laid on and pulled out the command crystal. She hefted her up in both hands and carried her the her car.

Less than a minute later Lois climbed the front porch of the Kent home. Martha ran outside and held the door open. Lois walked inside and set the girl down on the couch.

"Where did you find her Lois?" Martha asked.

Lois pulled the crystal out of her pocket and handed it to Martha.

"What is this?" Martha said looking at the crystal for a second. "Surely not."

"I'm afraid so." Lois said pulling out her cell phone. "I'm going to call Clark he'll know what to do and he bury her ship." Lois dialed the house number and waited. _'Hello Kent residence.'_ "Clark its Lois we have a problem." _'Problem, what do you mean Lois?'_ "Clark did you hear about the meteor that was headed toward Kansas?" _'Yes I did but by the time I got in the air the reports side it broke up.'_ "Well not all of it broke up. A large piece of it was a Kryptonian space ship." There was a pause on the line before it went dead. "Well I'd say he's on his way." Lois looked at the girl. "I suppose we should get some cloths on her." Lois ran upstairs to her and Clarks bedroom. She rummaged through all of her old cloths. Unfortunately she wasn't as thin as that girl when she was in high school. She found a pair of Sweat pants and a loose T-shirt and ran down the stairs. "None of my bras or anything are going to fit her but these should be ok."

Martha and Lois set to the task of getting her dressed, it wasn't as easy as they had thought it would be.

"Jeez this girl must weight a ton." Lois said after they had finished. "I don't remember her being that heavy when I carried her in."

"That's because her body is starting to get used to the lower gravity." Came Clark's voice from the door frame. "I couldn't find the command crystal in her star ship."

Lois handed him the crystal. "I pulled it out in case some decided to check out the crash site before you got there."

"I'll take this to the fortress, I already know who she is though." Clark said pulling out a piece of cloth from his back pocket. "I found this in the ship, its the symbol of the house of Zor-El my cousins."

Lois took the cloth and looked at it. The symbol looked just like Clark's except the symbol in the center was crooked and looked more like a bolt of lightning than and 's' the back ground was also a different color instead of the red 's' being set on a field of yellow the background was black. "Why is it so different?"

"Because the word 'Zor' stands for 'not of'. So their names 'Zor-El' mean 'Not of Rao'. It is a designation that was originally meant to imply that they were not the first born but it became a reason for war. The Zor-El became unstable prone to outbursts of anger at their true El brothers and sisters. This lasted for generations until finally one of my ancestors founded Kryptonian Logic. This belief in nothing but science swept Krypton like wild fire and his brothers were forced to accept the fact that violence was no longer an acceptable means of battle. Instead they strove for political dominance over Krypton." Clark explained still standing in the doorway. He turned to his mother. "Mom would you take her blankets and make a Kryptonian tunic out of them. And use one of my spare emblems of El. I'll take the Zor-El symbol with me to the fortress." He turned and left without another word.

"It's going to take me awhile to get her measurements and start on the 'tunic'". She said using her fingers to empathize the word. The Kryptonian idea of what a tunic was looked more like spandex.

"I'll make some tea and keep an eye on our little visitor." Lois said heading for the kitchen.

Three hours passed and Martha made her way down stairs. "How about we put this on the chair here so she sees it when she wakes up." Martha said spreading the 'tunic' out on the arms chair next to the couch. "What do you think?"

Lois stood back and looked at Martha's creation. It was two pieces, there was a blue skirt that looked like it came about mid thigh it had a dull gold colored belt and red bloomers. The second piece looked like it would fit about three inches above the navel and had long sleeves that came slightly past the wrist. "Where's the cape?"

"It's upstairs I bonded a felt lining to leather and I'm waiting for the leather to set, same with the boots." She said smoothing out the uniform.

"It certainly doesn't look very Kryptonian." Lois said examining the set of cloths.

"Yes well that doesn't mean she can't act like a girl and still be Kryptonian." Martha said in all seriousness.

Lois just laughed and Martha joined in uncontrollably. "Well I suppose we just sit and wait."

The two woman sat on the love seat and sipped at cups of tea. They sat there for nearly an hour before the girl stirred. Her eyes fluttered and she slowly moved her head. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, when she saw Lois and Martha she start to speak very fast and in a language neither of them could ever hope to understand.

Lois tried to think of something appropriate to say. "My name is Lois Lane-El." She said pointing to her chest.

The girl stopped and stared at her and then shifted her attention to the set of cloths on the chair.

"Those are for you." Lois said pointing to the girl.

The girl pointed her own finger at her self and stood up from the couch. She reached over and picked up the top piece running her fingers along the emblem of El.

"You are El." Lois said understanding why Clark had taken the girls symbol with him. He wanted her to feel accepted and the only way to accomplish that was to make sure she understood that as far as the true son of El was concerned she was just as pure as he was.

"No I am not." The girl said looking over at Lois.

"You used your super hearing to learn English didn't you?" Lois asked standing up.

"Yes you called your self Lane-El is that a designation of his followers?" She asked setting down the top.

"No, I am El because I am his wife and the mother of his son." Lois said she certainly didn't like this high and mighty attitude.

"Of course how callus of me. I only assumed that he would follow in the ways of our ancestors. But I find now listening to the voices of this planet that many call him savior but none call him lord." She said a small tear fell down her cheek. "I so wanted a reason to hate him."

"I understand Kal-El has taught me a lot about Kryptonian culture. But he was not raised as a Kryptonian he was raised as a human." Lois said pointing to Martha. "This is Martha Kent she found Kal-El's ship when it crashed and she has spent the past thirty years raising him like he were her own child."

The girl bowed her head. "You must be quite the mother to tame the wilds of a Kryptonian's heart. You as well miss Lane you must be some woman indeed to capture his heart." She said picking the top back up. "I suppose the symbol was his idea yes?"

"It was I think he wanted you to know that you are welcome within our family Kara Zor-El." Lois said remembering what Jor-El had said so many years ago. "I want you to know that I do not care about petty historical blood feuds. As far as I am concerned you are just as much my cousin as my other cousin."

Kara smiled and hugged the top the her chest. "You have no idea what this means to me."

"I think I just might. you know Martha made that for you by hand. She also mad a cape and boots that are sitting up stairs they should be ready by now." Lois said pointing to the stairs. "Maybe some fresh air and a tour around the globe would help you feel more at home."

Kara smiled another tear slide down her cheek. She scooped up the suit and jogged up stairs a second later they could both hear a distinctive sonic boom off in the distance.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: all character are property of Time-Warner.

A/N: Here is the next chapter. Hope you all enjoy. R&R

September 2018, Metropolis, Kansas

Chloe sat alone on the front porch of her cousins river side home. It was now two hours after she had planned to meet Lois and Martha. Chloe got up and walked to her car. Lois was never late without reason. Chloe had just flipped her phone open when she heard a familiar sonic boom. She looked up to the sky but instead of seeing Clark Kent she saw a girl about fifteen years old. She was wearing a costume much like Clarks only she wore a skirt. She stared up in disbelief how could some one have powers just like Clark. The girl came down and landed right in front of Chloe. She placed her hands on her hips and sniffed at the air.

"You smell like Lois." She said focusing her yes on Chloe. "My name is Kara." she said giving Chloe a smile and waving her right hand.

"How do you know Lois?" Chloe wondered clearly frightened.

"She's my cousin." Kara said still smiling. "Well she is married to my cousin Kal-El."

"Clark, his name is Clark Kent." Chloe said remembering the last time she heard Clark call himself Kal-El.

"That's right I forgot he adopted a human name." She said studying the house. "This is were he lives right?"

"Yes, he lives here." Chloe said trying to figure out what this girl wanted.

"Oh sorry I have to go there's a bullet train being hijacked by Islamic extremists. We'll talk later." Kara said before taking off.

Chloe nearly fainted before she remembered Lois. Had this Kara been the reason Lois and Martha didn't show up. Chloe got into her car and drove to Smallville as fast as she could. She pulled into the drive and ran up to the house. When she stepped inside Lois and Martha both were sitting down drinking tea

"Hey Chlo sorry about this afternoon something came up and Martha and I couldn't make it to Metropolis in time." Lois said looking at her dumbstruck cousin.

"Yeah I met Kara." Chloe said sitting down on the sofa.

"You did!" Lois said astonished

"Yeah I was at your house and she stopped cause I smelled like you." Chloe said not really paying attention to what she said.

"She is something else isn't she." Martha said pouring herself more tea.

"You could say that. Is she really Kryptonian?" Chloe asked taking one of the tea cups.

"Yes, Jor-El told me once that he had given his brother the planes for a space ship that could save her just like the one he had built for Clark." Lois said sitting back in her chair. "I think Clark and I are going to offer to let her live with us. She can go to the high school in our district."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Chloe said sipping her tea. "You remember what high school was like do you think she could handle having superpowers and try to fit in."

"Well Clark did and Jason has been doing pretty good. I don't see why she would be any different." Lois replied.

"Yeah right just imagine if Lucy had Clark's powers." Chloe responded taking another sip of tea.

"Ok you've got a point. But I think Clark and I could handle it." Lois said setting down her tea. "Well I better get back to the house before the two of them get home."

Lois left the Kent home and made her way back to metropolis. She stopped at the grocery store before heading to the house she needed to make dinner of course if Kara was anything like Clark then she probably wouldn't need to eat anyway but Lois and Jason did. Lois got home and began to sauté brussel sprouts and steam rice. Jason came up stairs and came into the kitchen table.

"Looks good mom." He said stirring the brussel sprouts.

"Yes well after five years of eating metabolic shakes I'm sure brussel sprouts look like heaven." Lois said setting the table for four.

"Is someone coming to dinner." Jason wondered.

"Your dad's cousin is coming over." Lois said setting glasses at every placement and setting a pitcher of iced tea on the table.

"I didn't know dad had a cousin. Is she from Smallville?" Jason asked sitting down at his usual spot.

"No honey she's from Krypton." Lois said putting to brussel sprouts in a bowl.

"Krypton but I thought all our family from Krypton died." Jason said surprised.

"Yeah so did I until this afternoon. Apparently she left Krypton right after your father." Lois said setting the brussel sprouts on the table.

"Then how come it took this long for her to get to earth?" Jason asked.

"Relativity sweet heart." Lois scooped the rice out into a large white bowel and set it down next to the brussel sprouts.

"O yeah I didn't think about that." Jason said apologizing.

"Don't worry honey your only in the fourth grade." Lois said ruffling his hair. She sat down and waited for her husband to get home. "So how was school today Jason?"

"It was ok, Misses Rodenberry thought I was cheating on my math work today." Jason said. "I can't help it if I get done thirty minutes before everyone else."

"I know honey, I'll talk to the principle tomorrow about putting you in a more challenging class." She said smiling at her son.

"Why cant I just get promoted to fifth grade. I know I can do the work." Jason said poking at a brussel sprout.

"I don't know, you know what your father thinks about other kids thinking you're better than they are." Lois said dishing brussel sprouts and rice onto her plate.

"I know but I'm already getting picked on cause I get done faster than everyone else." Jason said hanging his head.

"I know and I hate it but people are always going to isolate you whether is now in school or one day when your older and your out risking your life saving people. But you will always have me and your father." She said with a knowing smile on her face.

Both of them turned their heads when they heard a sonic boom in the background. A sonic boom was normally an indication that Clark was coming home. But the sonic boom they heard sounded like it was going away from their home. Lois got up and turned on the kitchen television. Every news channel was broadcasting video of a large cyborg headed for metropolis. Lois could see Clark swoop down straight for the robots neck but before he could reach it he was hit with a green blast from its chest. The picture of Clark fell to the ground and an image of Kara came into view swinging around the robot and landing on his shoulders. Lois could see Kara grab hold of its shoulders and lift him off the ground she hadn't lifted him more than a few feet but when she let go the cyborg fell and lost it's balance falling face first in the trees. Kara flew up into the sky and came down hard puncturing his back. The news clicked to the anchors and Lois turned off the TV.

"Well I guess your Father will be a little late." Lois said sitting back down at the table.

"I didn't see him get back up after he got hit by that beam." Jason said still glancing at the TV.

"If there is anything I've learned about your father over the years its that he will always be ok. No matter how many would be gods he fights and alien diseases he contracts the next day he'll be up there in the sky saving the world."


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: All characters are property of Time-Warner.

A/N: hello everyone here is the next chapter in the saga of Lois Lane. R&R.

Late September 2018, Metropolis, Kansas.

The summer was over and fall was creeping up on the city of Metropolis. Karen Kent walked down the side walk to her new school. New Troy High was a a medium sized high school located in the Kent's neighborhood. Karen turned a corner and ran right into a girl about her age.

"Oh jeez I'm sorry about that." Karen said leaning down and picking up her books.

"That's ok I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing." She said adjusting her carryall and brown wig before the girl noticed.

Karen held her notebook in front of her and smiled. "My name is Karen." She said energetically pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose..

"Laurie." The girl said in response. She looked at Karen's notebook and her forehead furrowed. "Is your last name Kent?"

"Yes it is." She said checking her watch. "Man were going to be late."

"Oh yeah." Laurie said looking at her own. Karen started walking toward the front doors of the school. Running to catch up Laurie had to hold a second before speaking. "My name is Kent." She said panting.

"Really that's so cool maybe we're related." Karen said walking up the front steps of the big brick building.

"You're not from here in Kansas are you?" Laurie wondered.

"Smallville." Karen said as she made her way to her home room. "Hey since we have the same name you wouldn't happen to know where to go for homeroom would you?"

"Oh yeah let me show you." Laurie said taking Karen's schedule from her hand she stopped dead. "I have half your classes."

"That's so neat." Karen said looking for the room number on her schedule.

"Wait a second did you say your from Smallville?" Laurie asked.

"Yeah I am." Karen said turning down another hall. "Where are you from?"

"Metropolis but I had an Aunt and Uncle in Smallville." Laurie said pointing down the hall in the other direction. "I think their names were Martha and Jonathan."

Now it was Karen's turn to stop dumbfounded. "Martha and Jonathan." Karen echoed.

"Yeah do you know them." Laurie said pointing to their homeroom.

"Martha is my mom." Karen said walking into her homeroom.

Karen's homeroom teacher walked up to her and took her schedule. "Ok, Karen." He read aloud from the paper. "You can sit down here." He said pointing to the desk right in front of the one Laurie had sneaked into. "Thank you for making sure she found her way here Laurie."

"No problem Mister B." Laurie replied.

Karen sat at her desk and looked over her schedule for the day. She was interrupted by the girl sitting next to her. She was a little shorter than Karen and had chestnut colored hair. She wore turquoise colored eye shadow and light pink lip gloss.

"Hey my name is Kim." The girl said squinting her eyes as she smiled. She looked like a character out of one of the anime shows Jason liked to watch.

"Karen Kent." She said in response.

"Wow cool are you two like related." She asked looking at Laurie.

"Yeah apparently we're cousins." Laurie said righting something down in her notebook.

"Oh my gosh you guys never met before." Kim said giggling.

"No but I just moved here." Karen said putting her schedule in the front of her notebook.

"Wow crazy maybe this is like destiny or something." Kim said giggling.

"Just ignore her, she's always going on about destiny and karma." Laurie said placing a hand on Karen's shoulder.

"I totally believe in destiny." Karen said smiling at Kim.

"Here take this." She said handing Karen a business card with the emblem of El covering one side. "I go to the church of Rao." She said turning the card over in Karen's hand. The back was covered in Kryptonian pictographs. "That's our message of salvation."

"You can read Kryptonian?" Karen wondered.

"A little bit I'm not fluent or anything." She said still wearing the same smile.

"How?" Karen said catching herself before she said any more. "I mean I thought superman was the only survivor of Krypton."

'Yeah well back a few years ago when Lex Luthor was arrested for trying to grow a Kryptonian land mass in the middle of the Atlantic. Part of the land mass broke off when Superman threw it into space and a priest named Nathan Gog found it. The center of the piece of rock had these Kryptonian control crystals. Father Gog learned of all Kryptonian history from those crystals. He was the man that founded the church of Rao."

"Oh wow, how odd." Was all Karen could say she had been afraid of her cousin starting a church of El and making all of earth subservant to him but instead a man of god on earth had taken it upon himself to start a church of Rao following the historical record of Krypton. "Does Superman know you have his command crystals?"

"His?" Kim exclaimed.

"Yeah I read in the Daily Planet that Luther had stolen those command crystals from Superman's home." Karen said trying to think of a good excuse.

"Oh, I didn't know that. Surely if father Gog knew he would have tried to tell our savior that we had his crystals." Kim said her smile had now completely gone from her face.

"See I told you she was crazy following Superman as if he were god himself." Laurie said shaking her head.

"Don't be so mean on her. Who could blame her for looking up to Superman. Karen said sending a smile to Kim.

The day past fairly quickly. As soon as Karen got out of her last class she jogged home. She was going to check up on this Father Gog. There was no way those crystals were programed to respond to anyone but Kal-El. Karen ran into the house and threw her bag down on her bed she ran to her closet took off her wig and glasses and put on her uniform. She flew out her window and made a long pass of Metropolis. The card Kim had given her didn't give an address so she focused on trying to hear for her voice. Karen hoped that the change in hair color would throw her off. It didn't take long for Karen to hone in on Kim's voice. She was walking up to what looked like a catholic church. The sign outside said the Church of Hope. Karen hovered in the air and tried scanning the building. The building must have been lined with lead because her x-ray vision couldn't penetrate the walls. She landed in the front of the building. She opened the two front doors and stepped inside the room was half full of the churches followers who all turned and gasped at the sight of her in their church. Karen walked down the main isle to the alter on the alter was a crystal structure with the emblem of El jutting out of its front surface. Karen looked at the symbol and laughed silently. These people were worshiping something they didn't understand. Karen turned to the side and saw Kim standing next to a man in priests cloths. He was tall and lean with brown hair. He looked like a man people could trust.

"Tell me were you learned of that symbol." Karen said looking the man dead in the eyes.

"Of course follow me." He said leading her out a back door. They walked down a long hallway with Kim right on their heels. "I knew either you or Kal-El would learn of this place sooner or later. For that reason I have been preparing for our meeting. It is not everyday that someone gets to meet their savior." He said opening the doors to a wood paneled office.

"I'm not your savior." Karen said walking into the room.

"Yes I know but you are related to him." Gog said pulling out a leather pouch from a set of wood cabinets.

"No Kal-El is not your savior he was sent to this planet to escape the death that was spreading across Krypton." Karen said becoming irritated.

"Are you so sure. Kal-El shares many similarities to the creator of your blood line." The father said unrolling the piece of leather. Inside were six long crystals each shone brightly under the rooms light.

"Yes I am positive that Kal-El is no more than an average Kryptonian." She said placing her hands behind her back.

"Really well then maybe your right. However these crystals tell a different tale. These crystals were recorded by a man named Jor-El. On them he dictates all the accumulated knowledge of Krypton and all literature that had been recorded in all the known galaxies. At least all the know galaxies at the time. As I understand it these were recorded a thousand years ago. Still it gives us a picture of the universe especially Krypton. I understand that your name is Kara Zor-El and that you were considered on your planet to be of dirty blood because you were not first born of El. So how do you posses your powers how is it that someone who according to her own people was born scorned by Rao?" Gog sat down on the edge of his desk and crossed his hands. "Can you answer me?"

"I have been forgiven by Rao. That is why I wear this symbol." Karen said touching the emblem on her chest. "I grew up learning that my pure blooded cousin was evil and that the only way to cleans myself was to see him destroyed. That's why I came to earth my only goal was to kill Kal-El so that my family could be cleaned." Karen sat down in one of the chairs and wept. "But when I got here Kal-El was nothing like what I had thought. He was kind and decent, he even had a son a half breed. Kon Jor-El is his name, and he is the most beautiful little boy I have ever seen in my life." Karen sniffled and wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her uniform. "Kal welcomed me with open arms. He gave me this symbol as a gesture that I was as close to him as a sister. I couldn't kill him I have felt terrible about it ever since but I know I did the right thing. My father lied to me he told me that the blight of the pure El would never end. He told me that Kal-El would enslave the human race and pervert it with his purest beliefs." Karen looked up at the priest. "But yes I have these powers because Rao has found me worthy just as he has blessed Kal-El. He told me that Jor-El sent him here to show the people of earth hope."

"Yes but what is that hope? The chronicles Jor-El gave his son say that there is one mighty god that rules all the cosmos. This god is called by many different names Rao for instance is one of them. Here on earth many people call him Jehovah some call him Allah. However he is still the same all over the space-scape. Many worlds have been tested, and many have fallen. Jor-El said he sent Kal-El to earth because we still had time to learn from Krypton's mistakes." Father Gog got up from his desk and placed a hand on Karen's shoulder. "I know this might be hard for you to understand but you cannot give up on hope." Gog pointed to the emblem on her chest and smiled. "One of the first Kryptonian words I learned was hope. You literally were the word hope on your chest for all the world to see. It is up to you and your cousin to share that message to all the people of this planet." Father Gog gave her a smile and got and walked to the door. "You might want to rethink the wig and glasses idea it didn't fool Kim here and I doubt it will fool may others."

"What? You could tell who I was." Karen said looking at Kim.

"Yeah well it wasn't hard especially since we had been talking about the church this morning." Kim said as she smiled for the first time since Karen had arrived.

"Oh yeah well I'm kind of new at this." Karen she smiling back.

"Do not worry Kara we are dedicated to the teachings of hope that our god has given us we will not tell anyone. In fact this knowledge should not leave this room." He said smiling at the two girls. "Now I must return to the prayer vigil we are holding." He said as he left.

Karen gave Kim her address and invited her over to dinner. She was sure that Lois wouldn't mind. Karen flew over the city a few times checking to make sure that nothing was going on. She made it back home just in time to catch Lois setting the table.

"Hey Lois." Karen said walking into the kitchen. She had taken off her cape and boots but left on the top and skirt under a sweat shirt and sweat pants.

"Hey Karen how was school?" Lois asked placing a bowl of mashed potatoes on the table.

"It was ok I didn't really pay much attention to be honest." Karen admitted grabbing a bowl of sweet peas form the kitchen.

"What do you mean you didn't really pay attention?" Lois said looking at her cousin-in-law.

"Well it's kind of hard to get into high school geometry when I can easily do advanced quantum physics in my head." Karen said setting down the peas. "I mean sure I don't know all of the history stuff and I'm still not very good at English but seriously if I try I could just read the book and memorize it."

"You still have to try." Lois said setting out the silverware and plates. "Clark and I wont accept anything below an A+ from that solar powered brain of yours."

"Yes ma'am." Karen said rolling her eyes. "Oh I forgot to tell you I invited a friend of mine over to dinner."

"You did." Lois said walking back into the kitchen. "So who is this friend."

"Her name is Kim." Karen said putting an extra plate next to her seat. "She belongs to this church that worships Rao."

"There is a church of Rao here in Metropolis." Lois said puzzled. "I wonder where they learned about Rao."

"Well I went by their church and met the man that runs it." Karen said placing silverware next to the extra plate. "He found some of the command crystals that Luthor stole form the fortress. That's how he learned about Rao."

"What a strange happenstance." Lois said placing her roast on the table. "Well I don't suppose it hurts anything. In fact it might even make Clarks mission a little bit easier. So long as their not extremists."

"Don't worry Father Gog is harmless. He used to be a catholic priest before he found the crystals. He even lined the church with lead to keep Clark from seeing inside. I think he was afraid that we would shut them down." Karen said sitting down. "I plan on keeping an eye on them though just in case. Now Kim knows a lot, found most of it out on her own but I don't want Clark to now about any of this. At least not until I'm sure about Gog. I want to make sure Kim is safe."

"Ok I won't tell him. So you think that this Kim girl has been hoodwinked by this Gog fellow?" Lois said calling Jason to dinner.

"I'm not sure Gog seemed very convincing but he knows who I am so I'm not going to take the chance." She said pouring a glass of tea.

"He knows who you are!" Lois said hurrying back into the dinning room.

"So does Kim. On top of that she told him. I wasn't being very bright to be honest. She told me about the church this morning in homeroom and what was the first thing I do when I get out of school. I go right over to the church and barge in right when she was talking to Gog. There is a bit of facial detail you can pick up when you're sitting right next to each other. Plus I don't know English enough to throw off my voice like Clark. I guess I should have came in speaking Kryptonian seeing as how they can all speak it they would have understood me fairly well." Karen said averting her eyes.

"Ok first thing we need to work on your speech recognition because you speak in conflicting sentences that are far to wordy. Secondly Clark needs to teach you to be a little bit more mild mannered." Lois said pouring a glass of tea for herself. "And he needs to show you how to us electromagnetism to erase peoples memories."

"Sorry but that would involve me having to kiss them and I'm sorry but I'm not from Titan I can't do that kind of thing that haphazardly." Karen said taking another sip of tea. "Plus I want to see how Kim handles knowing how I am. Gog I can just throw him into the Phantom Zone if he starts to cause trouble."

Lois laughed Karen was much more care free than Clark. She didn't over analyze life the way he did. She was going to be ok she wasn't tied down to Clark the way Bruce's protégés were. She was her own person with all of her own problems and her own ideas about how they should be handled. She could only hope that the world was ready when Karen learned about boys. She could still remember the night Jason was conceived the bed in her apartment lost all four legs and half a dozen springs. She laughed to herself about it but wondered if Karen was emotionally ready. She could only hope and pray that she and Clark would now what to say and do. The next three years were certainly going to be crazy. God help Metropolis.

A/N: PS: Ah the final chapter has finally come but don't worry its not over. I still have to write Chloe's wedding (cause god knows you'd all kill me if I didn't). The next leg of this story is going to focus around Karen so I might include Chloe's wedding in that or I might write a one shot that covers her wedding. I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to handle it. Well peace out and wait around for the next installment. Peace out true believers.


End file.
